The student was knocked unconscious on Tuesday when he strolled late
at night in the center of the city. A band of 15 Arab youth pounced on
him, dragged him into a dark corner and pummeled him, using sharp
weapons.

The student lost consciousness, and the attackers fled when a passerby spotted them and called police and medics.

The police are investigating, but have but have not caught the attackers.

The Milan-based Center for Jewish Documentation's Observatory on
Anti-Jewish Prejudice reported last month that the number of
anti-Semitic episodes in the country soared last year.
The incidents ranged from street insults and swastika graffiti to physical aggression.

''We observed approximately 70 cases so far this year, most of them
graffiti and online attacks, over 40% more than last year,'' said
Observatory researcher Stefano Gatti. ''The boom might be due partly to
more efficient data-gathering, but the episodes have undeniably
increased,” he added.

Gatti also pointed out that Italian pundits and politicians ''such as
Silvio Berlusconi, Beppe Grillo or Piergiorgio Odifreddi'' are now
writing discriminatory posts and telling racist jokes. ''Making certain
issues seem normal, even funny, is one of the root causes of the rise in
anti-Semitic episodes in Italy,'' Gatti said.

An individual at the Chabad House in Venice who did not wish to be named
told The Algemeiner that the student was recovering and that such
incidents were rare in Venice. The source also indicated how the Jewish
community would respond. “We will answer evil with kindness,” the source
said.

Of course, Chabad of Venice might have an interest in Jewish tourists continuing to come there.... Just sayin'....

“Since [the March 2011] Toulouse massacre we
often hear of violent attacks against Jews. They are testament to an
underlying problem that requires examination and a solution,” Chief
rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar wrote in a letter to EU President
Herman van Rompuy.

Last year, French-Algerian Mohammed Merah
gunned down a rabbi and three children outside a Jewish school in the
southern French city of Toulouse. He died after a prolonged standoff
with French police.

In September, in a Rosh Hashanah greeting, the
president of the European Commission warned of a rise in racism and
anti-Semitism in Europe.

“At a very difficult time, both economically
and socially, when some people, even within Europe, are tempted to
reconnect with old demons — populism, racism and anti-Semitism — we need
more than ever to uphold, to protect and to promote together our common
ideals of peace, tolerance, reconciliation and respect for human
dignity,” Jose Manuel Barroso wrote in a message sent to the European
Jewish Congress.

The ADL reported last March that anti-Semitism
in Europe is at “disturbingly high levels,” with an average of nearly
one-third of those surveyed across 10 countries holding “pernicious
anti-Semitic beliefs.”

The study found large swaths of the population
subscribing to classical anti-Semitic notions such as Jews having too
much power in business, being more loyal to Israel than their own
country, or “talking too much” about what happened during the Holocaust.

Investigate and do what about it? Given that Europe is being overrun by Islam, do we really need an investigation to tell us that Europe is becoming more anti-Semitic?

And to think that Venice is one of the few places in the world to which Mrs. Carl has admitted she would like me to take her....

2 Comments:

Tell Mrs. Carl That I said forget Venice and come visit me. It's been over 10 years now. I feel very bad for that boy. I have a friend whose daughter learn in seminary in Italy. When she visited she stayed at Chabad of Venice. She said it was gorgeous there. But I still think you should come back and visit me.

Links to this post:

About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-three years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 10 to 31 years and seven grandchildren. Three of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com